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Our Sense of Discovery Is Disappearing

A recent pattern has emerged over the years and it’s one that makes this crotchety gamer flabbergasted. Video game websites are on a desperate mission to spoil games in as many ways as possible. I’m not just talking about story spoilers, either. No, now we get gameplay videos of full missions of Dishonored, at least 3 of which have been released thus far. The game came out on Tuesday. And yet so far, just from one prominent website that I shall not name (but you can probably guess), we have had posts on: a possible sequel, Easter eggs, tips on how to play the game best, videos showing how many different ways there are to kill enemies, etc…

It’s mind blowing. The game came out this very week and if you had read all these articles, I would question why you even would play the game. Part of video games is about having a sense of discovery, of exploring the world, the environment and figuring out your own way to play it. These posts aren’t doing anyone a service. And other websites do these as well. The most famous game site on the Internet will regularly post videos of endings, while another well-read site will show you the location of every hidden collectible in a game on the day it comes out.

Seriously: Stop doing this. I know there is the argument that people can choose whether or not to read these posts, but can we agree that they shouldn’t be posting things like this on the week the game is released? It’s destroying half the fun of playing the damn thing. We’ve finally reached a point where most websites will not post spoilers about the story, or at least warn you if they are about to, but now we are have inverted the problem by spoiling gameplay.

Am I alone on this? Don’t you think it’s more fun to try things yourself first and not have your hand held through every nook and cranny? Tell us in the comments!

You’re not alone Anthony. I avoid any and all those videos and stories on games I plan on playing. I agree that one of the best parts of gaming is discovering things on your own…. and I also hate the achievements and trophy’s… I don’t need those to tell me if I did something special, I already know it.

I haven’t heard an unwanted piece of news about any game recently as this is now the ONLY site I use to get gaming news. I’m purchasing Dishonoured (oops, Dishonored) based entirely on word of mouth. This system of deciding purchases has served me far better recently (hmm, I think I may have talked about this before) than getting a review from a website and inadvertently discovering every plot-twist, easter egg and the unfortunate “HERE’S A VERY POOR AND INACURATE PRIMER ON THE GAME WURLD”. I hate it when that happens. Leave it to Wiki’s, guys.

As much as I agree with this notion, it’s unrealistic to think it’ll ever happen. As advertising-driven as all of these gaming sites and blogs are–especially the top players which are owned by much bigger media companies–the constant flow of spoilers and poring over the minute details of every game = “crack” content that keeps visitors coming back = more eyballs & pageviews = more advertising revenue. They are not in the business of ensuring you have an enjoyable gaming experience.